Consumers Urged to Slash Copper and Iron Intake

8 years, 10 months ago

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Posted on Jan 29, 2010, 6 a.m.

University of Michigan (US) researchers warn men and women ages 50-plus to limit their intake of copper and iron, as buildup of these metals in the blood is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and other age-related disorders.

Writing that: “Copper and iron are essential but also toxic metals. [T]heir toxicities are so general in the population that they are a looming public health problem in diseases of aging and in the aging process itself,” George Brewer, from University of Michigan Medical School (Michigan, USA), and colleagues point to scientific evidence linking high levels of copper and iron to Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and other age-related disorders, and suggest that older consumers avoid accumulation of unhealthy amounts of these metals in their bodies. Citing that: “Trace amounts of copper in drinking water, less than one-tenth of that allowed in human drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency, greatly enhanced an Alzheimer’s-like disease in an animal model,” the researchers present advice on how to lower risks from copper and iron toxicity.